One of the PS articles says:

"Key Tip: Become an insurance agent yourself, and collect the commissions on your own insurance renewals each year"

Any idea how to go about doing this??

In the UK, no chance. Abroad, no idea!

Hi Yewn

Unfortunately I don't know how to do this abroad either but have contacted the author of the article for enlightenment and we will let you know as soon as we have the answer!

Noreen

Greetings.

It depends from country to country & company to company. Which are your properties located in?

I have become an agent myself in Romania, not for this reason, but the % reduction is useful actaully.

However, to be honest, a far simpler way to do this is first, get a good price for your insurance, by correctly insuring your items, & once obtained, bite into their commission slightly also once the policy price is at its mimimum.

The agent probably won't receive commission until weeks after the policy has been formalised, so you might just settle for a free dinner somewhere! That said, the commission on a 200e policy would only just take 2 people for dinner, based on typical insurers commission. However, if buying multiple services from them, eg, Property Management, Insurance etc, you could ask for a discount on other services.

Step 1: get a quote from a good insurer, & I don't mean one with a big name, or big profits (the opposite is better actually!), but one that pays out in the event of a claim. Companies posting big profits have excellent claim-rejection-assistants - your worst enemy when things go wrong.

Ask your agent for examples of where actual claims were refused. Mine just refused to pay out for frozen heating pipes leading to cracking & flooding, resulting from a boiler that cut out in a snow storm!

Step 2: check what is actually insured & what is not. Dont cover things you don't have.

Step 3: for the insured items, check carefully the re-instatement cover. You don;t need 5,000e of cover for a central heating system that costs 1,500e to replace & you won't even receive 5,000e if it needs replacing anyway.

Its the oldest trick in the Insurers 'how to charge more' book. Insurers ask you for a rebuild cost, you over-estimate it, they price the policy accordingly, thankyou very much, & if your car or home is destroyed etc, they pay market value, not your probably novice-estimate!

Cover what you need & just as importantly, cover the actual re-instatement costs. rebuild costs play a massive part in the cost-base, so get your facts straight.

In summary, get an accurate, competitive quote & ask for a discount after your agent has got you the best price he can get from his/ her company. Another way to save money is to get some comprimising polaroids of him/ her & ask for the money without having to take out a policy! Just a thought!

Now, who wants a free lunch!!!

Regards

Damian,